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Q:
Alexis de Tocqueville in his 1835 book Democracy in America addressed, among other things, the existence of interest groups in America. What was Tocqueville's opinion of interest groups?
A.Tocqueville praised the extent to which interest group activity underpins the American democracy.
B.Tocqueville was very critical of interest groups and saw them as undermining the democratic process.
C.Tocqueville viewed interest groups as creating a para-democratic force that could work for good or bad.
D.Tocqueville viewed interest groups as nothing more than political parties.
E.Tocqueville was shocked at the negative influences and forces that these groups had over innocent citizens.
Q:
How are interest groups legally protected in the United States?
A.through labor laws
B.through strong public support because there is little desire among elected officials to enforce laws that regulate them.
C.through the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, which guarantees the right of the people "to peaceably assemble and petition the government for redress of grievances"
D.through most state governments, which do protect their rights, although the federal government bans lobbying by special interest groups
E.through the U.S. Constitution, which creates and protects interest groups and vests them with powers to lobby Congress
Q:
Which of the following is the most influential interest group that lobbies for the needs of the elderly?
A.Social Security Administration
B.the Catholic Church
C.Blue Cross and Blue Shield
D.American Association for Retired People (AARP)
E.Congress
Q:
An organization of people with shared goals that tries to influence public policy through a variety of activities is called
A.a religious denomination.
B.an interest group.
C.a political action committee.
D.a government.
E.a corporation.
Q:
Throughout American history, the most significant influences on the formation of public policy have been
A.government agencies.
B.influential members of Congress.
C.state governments.
D.leagues of municipal governments.
E.private special interest groups.
Q:
In the post-Civil War economic boom, Samuel Gompers helped to create and lead the American Federation of Labor (AFL). What was the impact of this interest group on labor relations?
A.The AFL turned public sentiment toward the corporate owners and ultimately damaged worker morale.
B.The government rejected the legitimacy of the AFL as well as that of any other labor union.
C.The government responded to the labor union movement by protecting the corporate interests and banning the unions.
D.The AFL brought many smaller worker trade unions into a large interest group with increased political clout and ultimately won support in Congress for dozens of worker benefits.
E.Gompers and most of his supporters were eventually imprisoned.
Q:
Which government agency created in the early 1970s is charged with establishing workplace safety standards and enforcing them?
A.Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC)
B.Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS)
C.Employment Security Commission (ESC)
D.Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA)
E.Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC)
Q:
What was the significance of Ralph Nader's work in the 1960s and 1970s?
A.Nader was a Socialist candidate for president who turned many Americans toward his ideology.
B.Nader recruited a small army of young college graduates to advance Socialist causes in the United States.
C.Nader was a staunch defender of growing corporate influence in the United States following the war.
D.Nader was an influential consumer advocate who recruited young activists to successfully challenge the safety and health problems created by large corporations during this era.
E.Nader led the student takeovers of many of the university campuses during this era in protest of American involvement in Vietnam.
Q:
Which of the following would NOT be included in a list of values that have been traditionally instilled in individuals through religion and religious institutions?
A.individualism
B.strong work ethic
C.support of capitalism
D.sense of morality and moral purpose
E.partisanship
Q:
Studies have shown that heavy users of the news media, compared to lighter users, are
A.far more critical of democracy.
B.more inclined to support overthrow of the government.
C.more politically informed.
D.less likely to hold long-term jobs.
E.more apt to run for political office.
Q:
Which of the following, according to recent surveys, are more likely to be active voters?
A.individuals with no formal schooling
B.college graduates with undergraduate degrees
C.high school graduates
D.high school dropouts
E.those who did not complete high school but have stable work records
Q:
Which of the following would NOT be considered a role of elementary and primary schools in the development of political values?
A.respect for authority
B.legitimacy of political institutions
C.patriotism
D.development of religious beliefs
E.capitalism
Q:
Which of the following would have the least impact on the development of political attitudes, beliefs, and values in most individuals?
A.co-workers
B.family
C.personal friends
D.school
E.religion
Q:
Children who grow up in a home in which parents regard politics as important generally tend to
A.reject any reference to politics in adult life.
B.return to their parents for guidance about voting or taking a stand.
C.become rigid and unyielding in their political beliefs.
D.also regard politics as important throughout their lives.
E.seek mates with dominant political views.
Q:
Probably the most consistent influence on the development of values and beliefs, including political values, is provided by
A.co-workers.
B.elementary schools.
C.parents.
D.religions.
E.party affiliations.
Q:
Which of the following would NOT be included in a list of demographic factors that define an individual and his or her political values?
A.age
B.race
C.gender
D.political party in office
E.economic status
Q:
Often there are many factors and institutions that have a particularly relevant impact on one's socialization to politics. These factors and institutions are known as
A.agents of political socialization.
B.factors of character development.
C.collective culturalization.
D.building blocks.
E.cultural foundations.
Q:
The impressions and information that are acquired while the individual is younger, and which tend to be most influential and last the longest, are referred to by psychologists as
A.branding.
B.initialization.
C.primacy tendency.
D.coding.
E.politicalization.
Q:
According to most research, how long is the process of acquiring political values, beliefs, and opinions?
A.at least one month
B.about one year
C.a generation
D.until retirement age, though this is rarely the case
E.a lifelong process that begins in childhood
Q:
The process of acquiring political values, beliefs, and opinions begins
A.at birth.
B.during childhood.
C.at around 18 to 21 years old.
D.around middle age.
E.in retirement years for many individuals.
Q:
The process by which an individual acquires values, beliefs, and opinions about politics is called
A.indoctrination.
B.political branding.
C.partisan molding.
D.political socialization.
E.political demeanor.
Q:
Researchers such as Samuel Kernell have investigated the indirect links between public opinion and public policy. According to Kernell, when the president is seeing a high level of positive public opinion, what is the link in regard to policy development?
A.Congress will attempt to damage this high approval level by refusal to enact any policies favorable to the president.
B.The opposition party will become more aggressive and committed to bringing down the president.
C.There is no discernable link.
D.Congress will enact legislation that the president wants but will attempt to paint the president in a very unflattering light so as to undermine his/her support.
E.It is far more likely that the president is able to get his/her favored legislation passed since Congress does not want to move against strong public support.
Q:
During Page and Shapiro's 1992 study, they also investigated the link between public opinion and public policy. What was their finding?
A.The public expects its elected representatives to seek its opinion before developing public policy.
B.There is very little correlation between public opinion and public policy.
C.When public opinion shifts, a corresponding shift in public policy is likely to follow.
D.Since public opinion is impossible to be accurately determined, public opinion cannot be impacted.
E.Divisive partisan politics have the impact of creating impasse, whereby public opinion becomes irrelevant to enactment of public policy.
Q:
In a 1992 longitudinal study, Page and Shapiro studied public opinion by reviewing decades of poll data. Which of the following is NOT one of the findings of their study?
A.Over the long haul, pubic opinion on many issues remains fairly stable.
B.When public opinion does change, it moves in logical directions.
C.Public opinion generally reflects a lackluster or lazy attitude among many voters.
D.Decades of poll data show a pattern of sensibility and rationality on the part of public opinion.
E.Public opinion tends to form meaningful patterns consistent with a set of underlying beliefs and values.
Q:
Political scientist V.O. Key argued that voters behave about as rationally and responsibly as we should expect. His rationale was
A.that political leaders are to blame because they don"t rationally discuss the issues or provide a framework for voters to understand the issues.
B.that voters have limited collective intelligence.
C.that political issues are quite complex and are beyond the level of expertise of most ordinary citizens.
D.that the electorate is not at all interested in the issues, but seeks the "path of least resistance" by voting on appearance and demeanor.
E.that there is not an adequate level of media sources to effectively disseminate information.
Q:
How many voters, based on a poll taken during the campaign, indicated that they were "very interested" in following the 2004 presidential election?
A.one in two
B.one in three
C.fewer than one in five
D.fewer than one in 10
E.fewer than one in 20
Q:
Building upon research from the early twentieth century that indicated a lack of an informed public, Philip Converse in the 1970s used scientific surveys to research public opinion in regard to voting. This research indicated
A.that ordinary citizens are generally very knowledgeable about political issues and candidates.
B.that a very positive and upbeat mood exists among potential voters concerning candidates and issues.
C.that a very high percentage of eligible voters do vote.
D.that ordinary citizens are ill-informed about political issues, ill-equipped to understand politics, and quite fickle in how they stand on issues.
E.that ordinary citizens are very stable in their opinions and their votes indicate that stability.
Q:
Walter Lippman was a well-known public opinion scholar of the early twentieth century. What was Lippman's primary argument concerning public opinion and politics?
A.Voting should be left to those who demonstrate an appropriate level of knowledge.
B.Americans are highly capable and are willing to seek the information necessary to make an informed choice in the voting process.
C.Voters in certain regions lack the ability or desire to effectively learn about the issues and to seek the necessary information to make an informed choice.
D.Only those who have a formal education should be allowed to vote.
E.Citizens invest very little energy and effort in acquiring information about politics, and as a consequence, public opinion lacks the necessary knowledge to provide value.
Q:
As one of the Framers of our Constitution, Alexander Hamilton was very vocal in his fear of "tyranny of the masses," which he believed could lead to instability in governance. Hamilton's answer to this challenge was
A.a republican form of government in which the public chooses leaders who run the government, rather than a direct democracy in which the public rules directly.
B.to limit the right to vote to a representative number of citizens.
C.to limit the number of political parties that were allowed to function in the political arena.
D.a single, unified political party in which the party leaders were actually the elected officials, thereby bringing consistency and continuity to governance.
E.a return to a monarchy as the form of government.
Q:
In order to be successful and effective, a democracy relies upon which of the following important assumptions?
A.that political parties will always serve the best purpose of the people with the best motives
B.that citizens have the necessary information and skills to be able to understand political issues and provide informed input
C.that citizens do not know what they want, therefore political parties are formed to structure the decisions for the voters
D.that most citizens are incapable of making clear and rational choices in elections
E.that only those citizens who are literate and have shown that they understand the issues should be allowed to vote
Q:
Which of the following is NOT an example of a political preference?
A.fewer gun control restrictions
B.increase in the minimum wage
C.support for abortion rights
D.increase in taxation to provide social programs
E.sense of patriotism
Q:
Which of the following is true concerning the political orientations of Americans?
A.Americans tend to swing back and forth in their political orientations.
B.Political orientations are embedded in Americans as youths and never change.
C.Americans tend to follow the lead of European nations when determining their political orientations.
D.Political orientations tend to be very stable and lasting.
E.Political orientations tend to change with every election.
Q:
Political partisanship receives much bad press in our modern times, but partisanship serves a purpose. Which of the following is a benefit of political partisanship?
A.It eliminates third party interference.
B.It exposes the hypocrisy of the opposing party.
C.It provides a framework for individuals to translate broad values and beliefs into preferences for issue positions and political candidates.
D.It divides the electorate and forces voters to take a stand.
E.It discourages excessive voting.
Q:
Liberals and conservatives actually do agree on many ideals, though they differ on how these values and beliefs should be written into policies. Which of the following is NOT an ideal that tends to be mutually accepted by liberals and conservatives?
A.the rule of law
B.majority rule
C.the rights of minorities
D.the free enterprise system as a process that will generally guarantee the most robust economy
E.socialized health care
Q:
Which of the following concepts is most closely aligned with contemporary conservative ideology?
A.prefers sharply increased government assistance in health care
B.advocates government owned and operated health care.
C.maintains traditional values on social issues but prefers government restraint in economic redistribution
D.promotes an increase in free education to all college students
E.promotes an increase in Medicaid and Medicare benefits
Q:
Which of the following is most closely aligned with contemporary liberal ideology?
A.prefers states' rights over the rights of the federal government
B.prefers that government take a more assertive role in the redistribution of economic resources and individual freedoms
C.in the United States, is more closely aligned with the Socialist Party
D.strongly advocates governmental regulation of morality
E.advocates that government take a hands-off approach to economic matters
Q:
An orientation for translating values into specific opinions and a philosophical guide that people use to help translate their values and beliefs into specific political preferences is known as
A.social filtering.
B.conservatism.
C.partisanship.
D.political ideology.
E.political posturing.
Q:
A psychological attachment to one of the main political parties and an orientation mechanism for understanding how to apply one's beliefs and values to the political world is referred to as
A.partisanship.
B.political ideology.
C.denominationalism.
D.political dependence.
E.political need.
Q:
The translation of values and beliefs into a systematic way of assessing the political environment is referred to as
A.political isolation.
B.political orientation.
C.ideological interpretation.
D.religion.
E.the electoral process.
Q:
The rule of law is a strong value in American opinion. Which of the following is NOT an element of the rule of law?
A.that there is a strong belief in the legitimacy of the U.S. Constitution
B.that elections act as an important way to configure government
C.that minority rights are not important and the minority should not be allowed to challenge the majority
D.that the opinion of the majority should prevail
E.that those accused of a crime should be entitled to fair procedures
Q:
The media is a powerful avenue for expression of public opinion. Which of the following is NOT a method available to the media for expressing or gauging public opinion?
A.online blogs
B.call-in radio and television shows
C.letters to the editor in newspapers
D.opinion polls conducted by the media organizations
E.examination of citizens' spending and giving habits through public banking records
Q:
Public opinion exists at three basic levels. One of the highest levels of public opinion is seen in the beliefs of the American people. In this sense, how is the term "beliefs" defined?
A.laws and statutes of the American government
B.religious denominational understandings
C.facts that derive from values that people take for granted about the world
D.vague feelings that people perceive as applying to the world at large
E.political orientations and preferences
Q:
Political scientist Samuel Huntington has identified four politically relevant values that are widely accepted by a great consensus in our political culture and serve as a basis for defining political beliefs. Which of the following is NOT one of the four values?
A.wealth
B.liberty
C.individualism
D.equality
E.rule of law
Q:
As a direct result of strong and organized public support, the Seventeenth Amendment was ratified in 1913. What did the new amendment create?
A.the abolition of slavery
B.a national bank to protect against economic depression
C.a requirement that a president seek out public opinion before making major decisions.
D.America's entry into World War I
E.a direct election of U.S. senators by the voters of the state instead of by the state legislatures
Q:
What is the term for an item on a state or local ballot that seeks to determine accurate public opinion for use in resolving a pressing political issue without creating widespread public dissatisfaction?
A.public opinion poll
B.solicitation
C.referendum
D.political canvass
E.survey
Q:
The most common method used to determine public opinion is
A.a nationwide election.
B.the sales reports from nationwide marketing agencies.
C.the public opinion poll.
D.the Nielsen television ratings.
E.telephone and email contacts to the White House Press Office.
Q:
Political scientist V.O. Key was more specific in his definition of public opinion when he described it as
A.the measure of guaranteed success.
B.collective opinions that are dangerous for a politician to follow.
C.inaccurate results of inaccurate ideology.
D.those opinions held by private persons which government finds it prudent to heed.
E.the general feeling of the American public that is actually irrelevant to a government policy maker.
Q:
Many scholars use which of the following as a general definition of public opinion?
A.the official results of an election
B.the summation of individual opinions on any particular topic or issue
C.the results of a Gallup opinion poll
D.the views of elected officials as to the direction of the nation
E.the collective political preferences of the majority of citizens
Q:
Define public opinion and discuss early efforts to measure it.
Q:
More Americans are getting political information from the Internet and from television shows like the Daily Show than ever before. At the same time, Americans' knowledge of politics is fairly low. Evaluate whether these two trends are related.
Q:
Discuss the major agents of political socialization and how they affect political attitudes.
Q:
What is meant by political socialization? What is meant by primacy tendency? Describe how the following agents of political socialization impact the opinions and preferences of an individual: family, friends and peers, schools, media, and religion.
Q:
Describe how presidents have attempted to use public opinion, from the early days of the nation to modern times.
Q:
Discuss three ways in which an individual is influenced in the development of his or her political orientation. What groups, factors, or institutions are important in this development?
Q:
Public opinion exists at three basic levels. List and describe these levels.
Q:
What are some errors or oversights that may contribute to inaccurate interpretations of public opinion polls?
Q:
Which of the following is an example of a sampling error?
A.The questions contain a limited range of response options.
B.The person being surveyed has limited knowledge about the subject.
C.The question is poorly worded.
D.A particular group is omitted from a survey.
E.All of the above.
Q:
Which group has historically been underrepresented in public opinion polls?
A.the wealthy
B.the poor
C.the middle class
D.men
E.protestants
Q:
Identify the question with the most biased wording.
A."Is smoking a public health risk that government should address?"
B."Do you favor or oppose government efforts to reduce smoking?"
C."Do you favor criminalizing smokers or do you support the principles of individual liberty as expressed in the Constitution?"
D."Should the federal government discourage smoking in order to improve public health?"
E."Do you support government efforts to reduce smoking?"
Q:
If a young child is asked to identify a photograph of the current President of the United States, what would account for his/her selection of George Washington's image?
A.game theory
B.prisoner's dilemma
C.Stockholm syndrome
D.historical propaganda
E.political socialization
Q:
A survey that was conducted by walking up to people at a mall would be an example of a
A.focus group.
B.exit poll.
C.scientific sample.
D.random sample.
E.straw poll.
Q:
Why did the Literary Digest fail to accurately predict the outcome of the 1936 presidential election?
A.biased question wording
B.self-selection
C.a small sample size
D.under-sampling of wealthy voters
E.over reliance on scientific principles and under-reliance on common sense
Q:
Literary Digest used ________ polls to predict the popular vote in presidential elections.
A.exit
B.straw
C.tracking
D.deliberative
E.representative
Q:
Which factor is the best predictor of how someone will vote?
A.location
B.religion
C.party identification
D.occupation
E.age
Q:
Approximately what percentage of Americans recently reported religion as an important part of their lives?
A.10 percent
B.20 percent
C.30 percent
D.50 percent
E.80 percent
Q:
Why does Florida have a harder time than other states in raising taxes to pay for public education?
A.Floridians already pay some of the highest taxes in the United States, so an additional tax increase is simply unpalatable.
B.Florida has a large elderly population which doesn't benefit from better schools.
C.Florida has a large percentage of home-schooled children.
D.There is a large population of immigrants which always votes against tax increases.
E.The public education system in Florida is so broken that most Floridians think there is no use in trying to repair it.
Q:
Which of the following has the single most influence on the political views of a typical high school student?
A.the President
B.Facebook
C.cable news
D.National Public Radio
E.friends
Q:
Which term captures the view held by Americans under 10 years of age regarding the president?
A.corrupt
B.evil
C.ambivalent
D.helpful
E.magical
Q:
American schools contribute to political socialization by
A.teaching about the virtues of socialism.
B.requiring students to take on the partisan affiliation of their teacher.
C.reciting the Pledge of Allegiance to help instill patriotism.
D.teaching students that war is evil.
E.teaching students to love your enemies.
Q:
If someone's two-year-old son enthusiastically says, "Obama! Change!" whenever he sees Barack Obama on television, his response is a result of
A.values acquiescence.
B.public opinion.
C.deliberative democracy.
D.political socialization.
E.social capital.
Q:
Which of the following factors has the lowest impact on political socialization?
A.family
B.school
C.peer groups
D.mass media
E.candidates
Q:
In recent years, members of political action committees and political parties have presented themselves as legitimate pollsters when in fact they have attempted to plant subtle facts in the minds of the respondents. These activities are referred to as
A.straw polls.
B.scientific polls.
C.pseudo-polls.
D.political filtering.
E.campaigning.
Q:
The Literary Digest fiasco during the 1936 presidential election effectively put this publication out of business and developed a fundamental lesson for future researchers. What event created this fiasco?
A.After the election of 1936, supporters of successful candidate Franklin Roosevelt boycotted the publication and effectively closed the business.
B.The publication confidently released its supposed poll that showed Franklin Roosevelt losing the election by a wide margin, which did not happen.
C.The publication revealed that its polling results had actually been a planned joke.
D.The Supreme Court ruled against the publication's First Amendment rights and shut it down for releasing inaccurate polling information.
E.The publication was found to be a subversive tool for infiltrators set on undermining American elections.
Q:
Which term describes a characteristic of public opinion in which political preferences remain very stable over time?
A.intensity
B.direction
C.continuity
D.randomization
E.generalization
Q:
Which term describes a characteristic of public opinion that measures the level of commitment that the public feels about the opinion it holds?
A.randomness
B.continuity
C.systematic rationalization
D.direction
E.intensity
Q:
Which of the following is the most common current probability method for creating a scientific poll by assigning the last four digits of a phone number in no particular order?
A.random-access polling
B.random-digit dialing
C.non-scientific polling
D.telemarketing
E.speed dialing
Q:
The amount of error in a poll that results from interviewing a group of people rather than the whole population under study is referred to as
A.sampling error.
B.question error.
C.inaccuracy of answers.
D.inconsistent questioning.
E.cultural diversity.
Q:
What is the process of polling in which each possible respondent in the survey target population has an equal and known chance of being selected for participation?
A.equitable sampling
B.public polling
C.posturing
D.random sampling
E.scientific sampling
Q:
A scientific sample is
A.a group of representatives from the population who are chosen based on their understanding of the process.
B.a system that uses probability theory as a guide to selecting people from the population who will comprise the selected group.
C.a group of representatives from the population who have knowledge of scientific methods, thus creating a more reliable result.
D.a group of people intentionally and specifically selected from a population to be surveyed.
E.the study of political activists and the impact of political activity on character development.
Q:
People from a population who are studied for the purpose of learning something about the whole population are referred to as
A.a pseudo-poll.
B.intercept subjects.
C.self-selected listeners.
D.a sample.
E.a test case.